Summary: During 2022-23, projects were sanctioned/approved for 333 FPOs but only 81 FPOs received either full or partial funding. Similarly for the 93 FPOs that were sanctioned for projects as on July 2023, only 17 received either full or partial funding. Percentage wise – approval vs disbursement was @ 24.32% for 2022-23 and only 18.28% for 2023. There were only 2 FPO’s one in 2022-23 and the other in 2023 which received support for organic production unit.
The context:
Responding to a question (Q# 266) on August 7 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture had answered the following
In 2022-23,
- 9166 Agri-entrepreneurs
- 5319 farmers
- 451 primary agricultural credit societies
- 333 FPOs
- 65 Self-Help groups
IN 2023-24
- 2554 Agri-entreprenuers
- 3098 farmers
- 47 primary agricultural credit societies
- 93 FPOs
- 14 SHGs
The Response:
My RTI was to sought information on the 333 FPOs in 2022-23 and the 93 FPOs in 2023-24 that were benefited under the scheme
The response was provided in a tabular form with all the Projects sanctioned to FPOs. There were 18 pages of information for 333 FPOs details in 2022-23 and 6 pages for 93 FPOs details in 2023-24.
Farmers, Farmer Producer Organizations, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies, Self Help Groups and have availed the benefits under the scheme.
An analysis of the FPO details reveals the following
I) Approval vs Disbursement
During 2022-23, projects were sanctioned/approved for 333 FPOs but only 81 FPOs received either full or partial funding. Similarly for the 93 FPOs that were sanctioned for projects as on July 2023, only 17 received either full or partial funding. Percentage wise – approval vs disbursement was @ 24.32% for 2022-23 and only 18.28% for 2023
2) Project types:
The details of the projects sanctioned during 333 FPOs reveal that there was more emphasis on warehouse, processing center and custom hiring center. There was only 1 FPO that had received support for Organic Production Unit and that was for a paltry 5 lakh rupees. But this was just the amount approved but not disbursed. Organic Production Unit is hard labor and needs construction of the production center, procurement, preparation , processing and eventually distribution mechanism. All this needs more than the 5 lakh rupees.
This is contrary to the PM’s speech on the occasion of the 75th independence day
“Today natural farming is also a way of becoming self-reliant,” he said. “Today the factories of nano fertilisers have brought new hope to the country. But natural farming and chemical-free farming can give a boost to self-reliance.”
There were 55 FPOs that were sanctioned for Warehouse, 52 for Primary Processing Centers and 41 for Custom Hiring Center projects
During 2022-23
| Project Type | Number of FPOs |
| Warehouse | 55 |
| Primary Processing Center | 52 |
| Custom Hiring Center | 51 |
| Others | 32 |
| Sorting and Grading Unit | 32 |
| Supply chain for clusters of crops | 30 |
| Cold Stores and Cold Chain | 18 |
| PPP Projects promoted by Local Govts. or their agencies | 16 |
| Logistics Facility | 15 |
| PHM Activities | 10 |
| Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture | 9 |
| Composite Project – Cold Stores and Cold Chain, Primary Processing Center | 6 |
| Packaging Units | 2 |
| Bio Stimulant production units | 1 |
| Organic Inputs Production | 1 |
| Poly House/Greenhouse | 1 |
| Ripening Chambers | 1 |
| Waxing Plants | 1 |
| Grand Total | 333 |
Custom Hiring Centre the FPO purchases a few machinery commonly used in agriculture and the farmer members hires out a particular machinery needed by him with hiring charges being on an hourly basis.
PHM is Post Harvest Management equipment mainly for horticulture crops where processing is required or done for value addition.
As on July 2023
There were 24 FPOs that were sanctioned for Primary Processing Center, 15 for Sorting and Grading center and 13 for Custom Hiring Center projects
| Project Type | Number of FPOs |
| Primary Processing Center | 24 |
| Sorting and Grading Unit | 15 |
| Custom Hiring Center | 13 |
| Warehouse | 8 |
| Composite Project – Cold Stores and Cold Chain, Primary Processing Center | 7 |
| Others | 6 |
| Logistics Facility | 6 |
| Infrastructure for smart and precision agriculture | 4 |
| Cold Stores and Cold Chain | 3 |
| PHM Activities | 3 |
| Supply chain for clusters of crops | 1 |
| Organic Inputs Production | 1 |
| Waxing Plants | 0 |
| Packaging Units | 0 |
| PPP Projects promoted by Local Govts. or their agencies | 0 |
| Ripening Chambers | 0 |
| Bio Stimulant production units | 0 |
| Poly House/Greenhouse | 0 |
There was 1 FPO – Shree Bhairavntah Agro Producer Company, in Solapur, that received 1.86 crores (approved and funded) for Organic Inputs production.
3) The biggest beneficiaries of the scheme, at least in terms of the approved amount are the Cold Stores & Cold Chain, Primary Processing Centers and Logistical Facilities.
During 2022-23
| Project Type | Approved | Disbursed |
| Cold Stores and Cold Chain | 8 crores | 0 |
| 5.90 crores | 2 | |
| 3.75 crores | 3.5 | |
| 3.00 crores | 0 | |
| 3.00 crores | 0 | |
| Others | 3.30 crores | 1.89 crores |
| 3.25 crores | 2.31 crores | |
| Primary Processing Centers | 3.00 crores | 0 |
| 2.50 crores | 0 | |
| Logistics Facility | 2 crores | 2 crores |
During 2022-23, there were some 30 FPOs where projects were sanctioned in the “Other” category with a total approved amount of 25.88 crores. And as on July 31st, 6 FPO’s had projects sanctioned in “Other” category for a total approved amount of 3.59 crores.
An excerpt from the original RTI response
Suri's 
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